


As the seasons pass by without you.

by Bluerepose



Category: Haikyuu!!, ハイパープロジェクション演劇「ハイキュー!!」| Hyper Projection Play "Haikyuu!!" RPF
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff and Angst, Haikyuu Month, Haikyuu Spring Fling, Haikyuu!! AU Week, Haikyuu!! Manga Spoilers, Haikyuu!! Rare Pair Exchange, Hinata Shouyou is Sunshine, M/M, POV Kozume Kenma, Teen Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 14:54:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29918607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluerepose/pseuds/Bluerepose
Summary: Consumed by grief after the passing of his lover Kenma begins to wonder if he can ever begin to love again. The rain and the sunshine don’t mix, but when they do they make a rainbow.Not completed yet :)(Partly inspired by the given manga)
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Hinata Shouyou/Kozume Kenma, Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Kudos: 6





	1. Friday, June 16th

“Kenma!”

He turned his head in anticipation, sometimes he swore he could still hear Kuroo’s voice. Every morning he would wait at the same place they met until 7:15am, the time they would usually see eachother. 

Kenma sometimes lives in his own fantasy world that Kuroo is only away at college and he would be back to see him soon. But he can’t remain in that false reality forever.

Volleyball just didn’t really feel the same towards the end of his second year. The once lively gymnasium felt empty without Kuroo. After his passing, the only reason Kenma stayed on the team was because Yaku and Lev had begged him.

Of course there was one other reason he stayed, it was his only real chance to catch up with his best friend Shoyo. Practice games didn’t happen too often anymore, but when they did it was the only time he felt happy.

Summer time was just around the corner. Most people were excited, but Kenma seemed dejected. He was used to spending with his life long partner, his soulmate. This summer he would be alone, just like he was before he met Kuroo.

“Hey, are you up there.” Kenma stretched his hands up to the stars as if he was trying to catch them.

Tonight was the night of the Perseids meteor shower, something Kuroo had been looking forward to experiencing. Kenma wasn’t at all interested in seeing them, but he would do it for Kuroo. 

As he laid on his rooftop, his phone light illuminated the darkness surrounding him as it notified him of a message. When he picked it up he half expected to see Kuroo’s icon pop up, but of course it didn’t.

𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘆𝗼: 𝟭:𝟯𝟭𝗮𝗺.  
𝗛𝗲𝘆 𝗞𝗲𝗻𝗺𝗮!! 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂?

The ghost of a smile lifted the corner of his lips. He enjoyed getting notifications like this.

𝗞𝗲𝗻𝗺𝗮: 𝟭:𝟯𝟮𝗮𝗺.  
𝗜’𝗺 𝗼𝗸𝗮𝘆, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘆𝗼𝘂.  
𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿?  
𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘆𝗼: 𝟭:𝟰𝟲𝗮𝗺.  
𝗢𝗵 𝘀𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗜 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗮 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 (;´༎ຶٹ༎ຶ`)  
𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗲!!  
| (• ◡•)|

He smiled knowing there was someone else enjoyed these kind of things. Of course he only enjoyed them because of Kuroo. Even though Kuroo wasn’t with him, they were connected by the stars.

Kuroo used to say the sky connect everyone like an endless ocean and it really did. It felt like he had bothered Shoyo and Kuroo right next to him, the two most important people in his life. 

𝗞𝗲𝗻𝗺𝗮: 𝟭:𝟰𝟴𝗮𝗺.  
𝗖𝗼𝗼𝗹 :)  
𝗜’𝗺 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹.  
𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘆𝗼 𝟭:𝟰𝟴𝗮𝗺.  
𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿.

Kenma grimaced at this message. Summer was something he didn’t want to think about.

𝗞𝗲𝗻𝗺𝗮: 𝟭:𝟰𝟵𝗮𝗺.  
𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆.  
𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘆𝗼: 𝟭:𝟱𝟭𝗮𝗺  
𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲’𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝘆 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸!! :𝗗  
𝗜’𝗺 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝘆 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗺𝗮’𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲! 𝗜𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀!!  
𝗜 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗞𝗲𝗻𝗺𝗮!!

That sounds like something Kuroo would say. 

‘For God’s sake Kuroo, why can’t I just forget you.’

He rubbed at his face in frustration. He was pondering at the idea of going. Did he want to be alone to dwell with his thoughts? Or did he want to spend time with his best friend. 

Kuroo wouldn’t want him to be alone.

𝗞𝗲𝗻𝗺𝗮: 𝟭:𝟱𝟰𝗮𝗺:  
𝗦𝘂𝗿𝗲.  
𝗛𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗮: 𝟭:𝟱𝟰𝗮𝗺:  
𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆?!  
𝗢𝗸𝗮𝘆 𝗶’𝗹𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗺𝘂𝗺 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄!!  
𝗪𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝟯𝟬𝘁𝗵 :𝗗  
𝗦𝗲𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗼𝗼𝗻 𝗞𝗲𝗻𝗺𝗮!  
𝗞𝗲𝗻𝗺𝗮:  
𝗦𝗲𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗼𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘆𝗼 :)


	2. Sunday, July 30th

July went by quickly and suddenly it was the end of the month. Early in the morning of July 30th he boarded a train headed for Miyagi. It would be refreshing to have Shoyo’s energetic presence for once.

“Kenma!” Hinata ran up to him as he unloaded his luggage off the train. He hugged him as tight as he could almost suffocating him.

“Shoyo, calm down.” Kenma hugged him back, a slight smile appearing on his face. 

“And then Kageyama got really mad and spiked a volleyball right at the back of my head! He’s so annoying sometimes.”

They had been sat in a small cafe eating pancakes whilst Hinata went on a tangent about some random stuff. Kenma just liked to listen, he enjoyed listening to him talk. Although sometimes he would talk really fast and it was hard to understand him.

Sometimes Kuroo would talk like that, especially when it was something he was passionate about like astrology or chemistry. When he was a kid he had said he wanted to work for NASA so he could take Kenma to the moon.

‘God why can’t I stop thinking about him!’ He thought to himself. 

‘Even when i’m with Shoyo you’re still here! Leave me alone.’ He thought in an attempt to push his lingering grief further down.

“Kenma are you okay?” Hinata’s face grew with concern. It was only then that Kenma noticed the tears filling his eyes. He carefully wiped them away using his sleeves.

“Yeah I am sorry, just spaced out there.”

The car journey was long and quiet. Somewhere along the way Hinata had fallen asleep. It was understandable, they had been awake since six am.

But every time Kenma was left alone with his thoughts they always seemed to find their way back to Kuroo, who he was trying to forget.

His death had been sudden. Kenma had been the one to find him unconscious, cold and lifeless in his bed that morning. When Kenma couldn’t find a pulse he called for Kuroo’s sister who then called an ambulance. 

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

An undiagnosed heart condition that runs in the family was the culprit of his passing. If only he was checked up on more often then maybe they would have caught it. The disease could easily be treated, which is what destroyed Kenma the most.

If they had noticed the signs earlier he would still be alive. 

As the car came to a halt Kenma gently shook Shoyo’s shoulders.

“We’re here.” He said in a soft tone as if he didn’t even want to wake the sleeping boy.

“Oh, thanks Kenma.” Hinata sat up and stretched his arms before practically leaping out of the car. It was crazy how one could have so much energy just moments after waking up. 

His grandmothers house was small and cottage like. It had an old fashioned kind of feeling. The entire house smelt like tobacco and fire. The charcoal fire place in the living room probably explained it.

There were four bedrooms, they decided to take the room with two twin sized beds. 

Hinata’s grandmother was a very warm person. Her sight was fading so she had a thing of grabbing peoples hands and shaking them vigorously to ‘get a sense of the person’ as Shoyo puts it.

“What do you wanna do today?” Kenma didn’t want to be cooped up inside, especially after seeing how beautiful the sights were in the area. 

“Whatever you want!” Hinata smiled.

Just then the chiming of an ice cream van could be heard outside. Hinata ran towards the window throwing the curtains open.

“Come on!” He grabbed Kenma’s wrist and some money from the counter as they ran outside.

A group of kids had already made a long line outside the van, but they were willing to wait. It gave them more time to decide what they wanted.

“What flavour do you want?” Shoyo asked.

“Oh um just vanilla please.” Kenma wasn’t such a big fan of ice cream. It sometimes made him feel nauseous.

It was clear even from the different ice cream that the pair were polar opposites. Kenma had a plain vanilla ice cream with a single flake, whereas Hinata had a chocolate ice cream covered in any sauce you could think of and millions of sprinkles.

“I think you dropped around half of that ice cream.” Kenma teased looking at the melting puddle of ice on the floor.

“Hey I didn’t mean too!” Hinata nudged him with a slightly annoyed yet amused expression.

They gazed out over the seas horizon from the park bench. Compared to the vast open space surrounding them, they seemed so small.

“Kuroo would’ve loved it here.” Kenma accidentally spoke aloud.

“You think?” Hinata had a slight smile which eventually faded as he saw the expression on Kenma’s face. 

‘Leave me alone! Just shut up! I don’t want to think about you! Dammit Tetsurō fuck you for being a part of my life.’

All he wanted to do was forget. He wanted to forget about finding his lifeless body. He wanted to forget about the time they spent together as kids. He wanted to forget the boy who had made such a big impact on his life. He wanted to forget Tetsurō Kuroo, his soulmate. 

There was no denying his undying love for Kuroo, they had been dating for a while before his death. In fact, the day of his passing was on their one year anniversary.

“Kenma?” Shoyo had intertwined their fingers as a form of comfort. Sometimes it seemed Kenma would space out sinking deeper into his thoughts. Hinata could read him like a book when he was in this state.

“Sorry Shoyo.” Kenma appreciated the others ability to know exactly how to calm him down. It was strange how emotionally intelligent the boy was.

Seeming out of nowhere Hinata wrapped his arms around Kenma taking him by surprise.

“It’s okay, whatever you’re thinking about it’s okay.” Hinata spoke in a calming manner.

Kenma buried his face into Shoyo’s shoulder. A familiar feeling of comfort forming within him as he accepted the embrace. It was nice having Shoyo around, he was the only person who really understood what Kenma was going through seeing as he had lost his father as a child.

Shoyo didn’t talk all that much about his father. They only had one proper conversation about him. He was a business man, very intelligent. Although he said they weren’t very close.

Around two years after Natsu was born Hinata’s father was killed in a freak car accident.

He said he could never get over the fact one morning he was there with him and the next he was gone. Kenma felt the same way about Kuroo.

“Let’s go back inside.” Hinata let loose of the hug and they spent the rest of that Sunday inside.

The car journey had tired them both out quite a lot, so the decided to just stay home that day and explore for the rest of the week.

Sleeping was hard in the summer heat. Kenma couldn’t get comfy under the blankets whilst Hinata was sound asleep. He was playing some random game on his portable PSP before it died.

Luckily he had bought a charger, but it would take a while to turn on again. Kuroo had always praised him for the way he takes care of his devices. He never played them whilst they were charging as he was scared the battery would become damaged. 

So every morning he would charge his device to 100% before he played his games.

Silence filled the room accompanied by a ticking sound. There was a clock in the room? Kenma hadn’t noticed. He turned on the lamp to get a closer look.

It all seemed too familiar. The way the clock struck the hour. The wooden marks and the dark brown hands of the clock which created the ticking. Even the length and width of the clock were all too similar. 

Each tick of the clock grew louder until it became deafening. The room seemed to fad and wobble as his breathing hitched. Even the pulsating of his heart and the blood gushing through his head grew irritatingly loud. 

He covered his ears blocking out the ticking whilst soft whimpers escaped his mouth. Slowly, they turned into uncontrollable sobs. He squeezed his eyes shut as tight as he could in an attempt to distract himself. 

Two arms engulfed him from behind. He slowly opened his eyes to see Hinata holding him. Kenma uncovered his ears, but the ticking of the clock was still prominent as tears continued to fall. His hands began to shake and his body was ridden with shivers.

“You’re okay, you’re safe.”

Hinata kept repeating whilst holding him.

“The clock. It’s the same one.”

His panic attack had been induced by the familiar slight of a clock that resembled the one in Kuroo’s bedroom. It had been there for as long as he could remember. The clock never changed position, not even when he re decorated his room.

Somehow seeing a similar clock in a different location was unsettling.

Even when Kenma had seemingly calmed down Shoyo continued to hold him.

“I’m okay now Shoyo.” Kenma spoke quietly.

Hinata got up on the stool and took the clock off the wall. Kenma was appreciative, he didn’t think he could cope with that thing in the room.

“It was my dads.” Hinata looked at the clock before placing it in a secluded draw within his closet.

Suddenly Kenma felt a wave of guilt rush over him. 

“I’m so sorry! You don’t have to take it down if you don’t want too! I’ll be okay I promise!”

“No you won’t.” Hinata sighed whilst closing the wardrobe door.

“I don’t really care anyway.” He walked over to Kenma hugging him again.

“It’s okay Kenma. Don’t worry too much.” He spoke for the final time before heading to bed. 

Finally Kenma was able to get some sleep during that hot summer night.


	3. Monday, July 31st

“Good morning.” 

Kenma was greeted by the early morning light and Hinata who was already fully dressed. He was wearing a bright yellow nirvana T-shirt along with some shorts. It was a weird choice for an outfit, but he didn’t mention it. 

As Kenma rummaged through his luggage he found he had also packed the same T-shirt.

“Shoyo look.” He held up the T-shirt with a grin on his face. 

Hinata immediately smiled suggesting he wears it so they could be ‘twins.’ The only difference between their outfits was the Kenma wore some black jeans instead of shorts. His choice in jeans probably wasn’t the best idea for summer.

That morning they walked along the beach just beside the water. It was all so peaceful it reminded Kenma of the morning walks he had with Kuroo. Never in his life had he felt for anybody else the same way he felt for Kuroo.

“Watcha thinking about?” Hinata spoke moving closing to Kenma. 

“Nothing much really.” Kenma placed an arm around Hinata’s shoulder as they continued to walk across the shore.

Maybe he could feel for Shoyo the same way he felt for Kuroo. Or maybe not. Sometimes when they were together, he would feel light. As if he had been cleansed of all his fears an insecurities.

There were times like now when his stomach would fill with butterflies and all he wanted was be with Shoyo. But he kept rejecting those feelings the more he thought about Kuroo. He wanted to move on, he wanted to move on so badly. But at the same time he couldn’t or he wouldn’t.

A sudden cold sensation sent shivers throughout his body as the two jumped out the way of a wave that enveloped them at knees height. The two laughed as they fell back onto the sand.

Hinata stood up with a look of annoyance.

“The tide is coming in already?” Hinata sighed helping Kenma up to his feet. When he checked his watch it was already 1pm. They must have been walking for ages to not notice a whole two hours had passed. 

“Does the tide usually come in this early?” Kenma hoped Shoyo had made a mistake. He enjoyed spending time with him here and didn’t want to go back yet.

“Yeah. It’s annoying.” He wines before his face lit up again.

“I know! There’s an arcade we can go to, I promise you’ll love it!” Once again Kenma was being dragged around by Hinata. Not that he really cared all that much.

The arcade was the old fashioned type. It had the classic games like Pac-Man, street fighter 2 and Mortal combat. Hinata seemed to really enjoy the variations of X-men games they had. Well it made sense he was an X-men fan after all. 

Kenma only had so much money that he needed to save throughout the week, but he wanted to try all the games so badly. Hinata insisted on paying for him but he refused.

“Kenma look!” Hinata was holding a bundle of tickets he had won from that hammer game.

“Wow how many?” Kenma walked over to him as they began separating out the tickets. 

“Four thousand. How many have you got?” 

“Two thousand.”

Kenma folded his tickets into a neat pile whilst Hinata’s tickets were jumbled up in a messy ball. Whilst folding the tickets their hands accidentally met and the two stopped in their tracks for a moment.

Only a second later Kenma moved his hand away, his cheeks turning a slight red. Why was he so embarrassed? It’s not like it’s the first time they’ve held hands.

“Kenma?”

Hinata placed a hand on his shoulder causing him to flinch. Noticeably Kenma stiffened before shoving the arcade tickets back into his pocket. 

‘I can’t love anyone else yet.’ He thought to himself. ‘Not when I still love you Kuroo.’ 

“I’m okay Shoyo. Come on I wanna play this game.” He took Hinata by the wrist as they scrambled towards a racing car game. It was one those games you get to play in a booth with flashy lights and dramatic sound effects.

A crowd of kids watched as the two duelled in an intense race to reach the finish line first. There were fiery explosions and loud cashing sounds as Kenma shoved Hinata’s car off the edge of a bridge.

“Hey!” Hinata shouted in frustration as he watched his bright blue car topple into the water below.

Kenma laughed as he crossed the finish line. A loud banner exclaimed ‘victory’ on his side of the screen, accompanied by neon fireworks. The group of kids cheered for Kenma and then proceeded to boo Hinata as he stepped out of the booth. 

Thousands of raffle tickets flooded out of the machine and it became hard for Kenma to keep hold of them. The group of kids continued to watch in awe as the tickets fell to the ground. 

The blonde walked proudly over to the counter with a bundle of six thousand tickets for show. If he wanted too, he could probably buy the entire rack of prizes.

In the end he settled on a hamper of snacks, a rubix cube, one of those giant lollipops and UNO. There were probably some better items he could afford, but his excitement got the better of him. 

“Kenma!” Shoyo rushed over to him, a big grin plastered across his face as he shoved a stick of candy floss in his face.

“Is that really what you spent your tickets on Shoyo?” Kenma laughed taking the stick of pink sugar from him. 

“That’s not all look!”

He had purchased a Zoro key chain (his favourite character from One Piece) along with a bright blue slurpy.

As they arrived back home they settled on playing video games for the rest of the day. Kenma found it amusing how Hinata’s tongue had turned a bright blue due to the slurpy he had been drinking.

“Man, I can never beat you at racing games.” Hinata sighed in frustration leaning against Kenma’s shoulder fiddling with his keychain. 

Kenma found himself relaxing against Shoyo, placing his chin on top of his head. They were both so tired and could’ve probably fallen asleep at any given moment if Hinata’s mum hadn’t walked n.

“Boys, there’s some soup out here if you want it.”

Shoyo let out a yawn before practically dragging Kenma to the dining table. There were moments when the both of them almost fell asleep at the table.

“I hate being tired.” Kenma placed his head in hands as his spoon fell back into his bowl. Soup felt out of place for a summer day.

“I’m gonna take a shower.” Kenma announced. Hinata nodded as he walked away from the dining table.

He allowed the water to run down his face in an attempt to wake himself up. His face scrunched at the agony of an oncoming migraine. Kuroo would always help him through these headaches, but he wasn’t there to do so.

In the end he slumped to the floor of the shower, a single tear rolling down his cheek. The pain continued to worsen as the sound of the shower grew into an annoying static sound.

“God why am I so overwhelmed.” He tugged at his hair in frustration allowing sobs to escape his mouth. Luckily his cries were muffled by the shower, nobody would be able to hear him.

“What’s happening to me?” This time he rubbed his eyes in frustration as he attempted to lift himself from the shower floor. But by now he was in too much pain to even lift himself. 

Eventually he crawled onto the bathroom floor changing into an old t-shirt and some joggers. 

There was a light tapping at the door.  
“Kenma are you okay? You’ve been in there a while.” 

“I’m okay Shoyo.” His eyes were a blotchy kind of red from where he had been rubbing them. They were also noticeably puffy. 

Kenma began rinsing his face with water in an attempt to make it look like he hadn’t just been crying his eyes out. But with the state he was in there was no getting past Shoyo’s terrifying observation skills.

As expected, he opened the door greeted by a concerned Shoyo.

“Have you been crying?” 

At first he didn’t know how to respond. It came as a shock to both of them, but almost out of impulsivity, Kenma wrapped his arms around the other burying his head in Hinata’s shoulder. 

Hinata immediately returned the hug tracing his fingers through the others blonde locks. 

“Come on, let’s get some rest.” 

The both of them crashed out almost mere seconds after hitting the covers of their beds. Kenma didn’t even move underneath his covers before he was sound asleep.

Hopefully his headache would fade by morning.


	4. Tuesday, August 1st.

That morning Kenma awoke to an empty bedroom, only filled by the morning light. There was a clanging of plates in the kitchen as he slowly pushed open the bedroom door.

“Kenma! What do you want for breakfast?” 

His eyes scanned the kitchen counters until they met a cartoon of strawberry milkshake which seemed satisfactory. 

“Just some strawberry milkshake please.” He smiled taking a seat at the counter. 

“Kenma, you can’t just have milkshake.” Hinata wined like a child pouring some cornflakes into a bowl and adding milk. Then he poured the milkshake into a glass. The food was placed in front of him and although he wasn’t all that hungry, Kenma ate the cereal anyway.

He felt kind of obliged too, this was the sort of thing Kuroo would do for him. Hinata and Kuroo had their similarities, especially their naturally kind personalities. If one of them walked into a room full of people you would know they were there.

“What do you wanna do today?” Hinata said through a mouth full of cereal. Kenma thought it was funny how his cheeks got all puffy when he ate. He looked like a hamster.

“Up to you.” He shrugged.

Unprovoked Hinata got up and moved around the table placing a hand on Kenma’s forehead. Then this unpleasant look formed on his face as he stood back, arms crossed. 

“What?” Kenma was slightly confused at the boys expression.

“You have a fever, don’t you?” Hinata continued to stare at him. When he didn’t get a reply he rummaged through kitchen draws before finding a thermometer.

“Shoyo!” Kenma laughed pushing him and the thermometer away. “Okay yes I have a fever. But I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to ruin your holiday.”

“Stupid Kenma.” He sat back down on the opposite side of the table. 

“You could never ruin our holiday.” He made sure to put emphasis on the word ‘our.’ 

“Let’s just do something quiet.” Kenma referred back to the question asked earlier. A slight smile lifted Hinata’s lips and cheeks as if he already had something planned. Knowing him, he probably did.

Hinata made sure Kenma took some medication to prevent his headache from worsening. He pretty much shoved the pain killers down his throat knowing that Kenma had a tendency to reject his personal needs. 

“Shoyo!” Kenma proceeded to push him away again as he struggled to swallow the tablets. In the end he practically chugged down the glass of water to be able to swallow the flavourless pills. 

Medication was so misleading. They would be bright red, pink or green colours that look like they could have some kind of flavour. A child could easily mistake them for sweets. But then when you eat them, they’re a disgusting sand papery texture with no flavour.

Kenma slid on his shoes with Hinata waiting impatiently at the bedroom door. He then proceeded to drag him by the wrist to a ladder in the garden.

As he climbed up the ladder Kenma could already feel himself getting tired as he cursed at gravity. When he reached the top floor he laid on his back, panting, an arm covering his forehead.

“I hate gravity.” He muttered causing Hinata to laugh at him.

When he sat up he looked around the small tree house. There were many old photos pinned to the walls. It was a messy layout, but very nostalgic in a way. Looking at all these old photos of Hinata and his friends made it clear he hadn’t been up there in a long time.

This was his treehouse of memories. 

Hinata took a photo off the wall of him and two friends pointing sticks at a camera with seemingly angry expressions. All three of them were covered in thick mud. They had painted mud lines on their faces as if they were in the military.

“The one screaming at the front is Kōji and the one next to me is Izumi. I bought them here for summer once.”

Hinata smiled at the memory, explaining how they were playing ‘warriors’ and diving into pits of mud on a rainy day. Apparently they all got sick the next day and couldn’t play for the rest of the week.

There were also a few photos of him and his dad. They were pretty average photos. Shoyo’s favourite was the one of him as a baby shoving ice cream into his fathers face. 

“Were you and your dad actually not close? I mean you look close in these photos.” 

Hinata took the photo and pinned it back to the wall.

“It’s not that we weren’t close, it’s just he was never really there.”

Hinata had a sad look in his eyes which Kenma took notice of. He put an arm around him allowing him to lay into his side. They never really talked all that much about his dad, but when they did Hinata always seemed sad like the life had been drained from his eyes.

“What about you Kenma? What were your childhood friends like?”

‘There he goes again changing the subject.’ Kenma thought. He always did that whenever his dad got bought up in conversation.

“You don’t have to do that you know.” Kenma pulled him in closer.

“What?”

“Change the subject whenever we talk about your dad.” Hinata remained silent after that. Clearly he wasn’t going to talk about it any longer so Kenma decided to answer his question from earlier.

“Kuroo was my only friend.”

The both of them laid back against the wooden floor boards staring up at the ceiling. There were those green glow in the dark stars plastered across the roof. Although they looked pretty bland in the day time.

Kenma laughed. “You know it’s funny. Kuroo used to be quieter than me when we first met.”

They both scoffed at the thought of a quiet Kuroo. Kenma knew it was pretty unbelievable. The man full of boundless confidence was once a shy young boy. 

“No way.” Hinata smiled before closing his eyes. Kenma followed as he also shut his eyes. They sat in a comfortable silence for a while. A light breeze brushing over them. 

After a while Hinata decided to get up. He assumed Kenma had fallen asleep so left without saying a word. From below he heard a loud squeaking sound as the tree branch rocked slightly.

For a moment he thought the branch was going to snap so he jumped up and leaned out of the ‘window’, which in actuality was really just a hole carved out in the wooden frame.

Too his relief it was just Shoyo swinging back and forth on a rusting swing. He sighed but then a realisation hit him. That swing was definitely a safety hazard.

“Shoyo! That swing is practically a fossil you should get off!” He scrambled down the ladder practically jumping off of it, a lot faster than when he climbed up. Gravity is only on your side when you’re moving in a downwards direction.

“I’m okay Kenma! It hasn’t broken yet!” Hinata laughed and began swinging even higher.

“Yeah. Key word yet.” Kenma sighed in protest before laying on the grass realising there was nothing he could do to stop that maniac.

As he stared up at the clouds the squeaking of the swing eventually came to a halt. His body sunk into the grass as he allowed his eyelids to shut. Falling asleep outside was something he hadn’t done in a while. Not since Kuroo’s passing.

There was a time, when Kuroo was still breathing, that they had sat on a park bench and Kenma had fallen asleep as he played with his hair. Once he finally woke up he found his hair had been braided, at first he complained, but eventually he chuckled seeing Kuroo’s amused expression.

“Kenma!” Kuroo shouted as the small black haired boy stared down at his injured knee. It was only grazed but any sight of blood was terrifying for a seven year old.

“Go away Kuroo.” He stood up, pushing Kuroo off his shoulder. Kenma debated running home, but he didn’t want to make even more of a fool out of himself. The other kids were already laughing as he wiped away his tears.

“Come on be more of a man!”

“Yeah! Be a man Kenma!” The chubby bald headed kid called after him. He began walking home only to feel someone grab his wrist.

Kuroo had lead him to his porch as he sat there and weeped. The blood from the slight graze was mainly dried up now, but nonetheless Kuroo placed a plaster over it. It was bright red with a thunder bolt on it. Kuroo smiled flashing all his teeth, but Kenma grimaced turning away from him.

Kuroo laughed. “Haha! You look so funny when you make that face!” He pointed at him mockingly. 

“Shut up Kuroo.” Kenma hit his hand away. 

“Hey.” Kuroo’s expression changed as he leaned closer to Kenma. “Don’t be so grumpy all the time, I like it when you smile.”

Kuroo moved Kenma’s arm away from his mouth revealing a slight smile. He tried to look grumpy but couldn’t contain his laughter. Both of them burst out into hysterics laying back on the concrete porch.

“Kenma, you’re covering your smile again. Stop.”

Again he moved his arm. No longer did Kenma cover his smile around Kuroo. 

His eyelids flickered open as the light settled on his face. He sat up quickly half expecting to be sat on Kuroo’s porch. But when he realised he wasn’t, he laid back down to see Shoyo gazing in his direction.

“Hey.” He smiled, a tired kind of smile.

Kenma smiled back. “Hey.”

They continued to stare into each other’s eyes for a long while before Hinata smiled again. 

“You really are beautiful.” Hinata brushed Kenma’s hair behind his ear in order to get a better look at his cat like eyes. At first Kenma didn’t know to react. 

Hinata was pretty too.

But he didn’t want to voice that. He’s only ever said that to Kuroo. He wouldn’t say it to anyone else, not just yet. However, they continued to stare at each other admiring every trace of the others face. 

Sun rays glistened causing Hinata’s eyes to brighten to a point where they looked as if they were sparkling. Kenma wanted to rest a hand on his face because his skin looked so soft. 

But he wouldn’t dare. Not when he was still in love with Kuroo.

Eventually Hinata allowed his eyes to shut. Kenma continued to stare. He looked so peaceful. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to rest a hand on his face, and that’s just what he did.

Kenma gently placed a hand on the others face. His skin was so soft he wanted to stay like that forever. Hinata turned his face nuzzling into Kenma’s hand. At first he flinched at the sudden movement, but allowed it to continue.

The two stayed like that for a while, just peacefully enjoying each other’s presence. Eventually Kenma moved his hand from the others face, which is when his eyes blinked open. 

“Are you sure this swing won’t break?” Kenma gripped the fraying rope like a lifeline. This swing definitely was not stable.

“Like forty percent maybe.” Hinata smiled. He was confidently stood on the swing gradually taking them up higher and higher.

“Shoyo!” Hinata laughed at Kenma who was now gripping the tyre swing even tighter. His finger nails digging into the seat. After seeing his fearful face Hinata’s menacing smile faded and he slumped down beside him.

Every jolt of the swing made Kenma jump. It felt like the rope could snap at any moment.

Later that evening the two found themselves still outside on the grass sipping lemonade and talking about nothing in particular. Every now and again Kenma would unconsciously mention Kuroo. He tried to prevent it and push his emotions back into the mental pit he had created for them. 

“Kenma, don’t bury your emotions.” Hinata suddenly said. Kenma looked up as the two just stared at each other. He didn’t know how to respond.

“Jeez are you some kind of mind reader?” Kenma chuckled raising an eye brow. That seemed entirely plausible. Shoyo winked as if to say ‘you figured out my secret’ or something along the lines of that.

Of course he couldn’t actually read minds. Kenma felt the need to make a mental note of that.

The glass door slid open and Hinata’s mum stuck her head out of the door, Natsu close behind her. She smiled a warm smile before speaking.

“Come on boys, go to bed or you’ll both get sick.”

The two hadn’t even noticed it was dusk by now. They ate some food and played a few games before Kenma grew tired.

Hinata shut off the lights and and tucked the already passed out Kenma under his covers. He smiled slightly before heading to bed himself.

“Goodnight Kenma.” He said although he knew he wouldn’t earn no response from the sleeping boy. 

Once again the dark room filled only with silence and the soft breathing of the two.


End file.
